I'm ready to get serious about programming with Squeak but I need a  
mentor.

Recently, I have begun my assent into the world of Squeak with  
Stephane's great book "Squeak Learn Programming with Robots" and now  
feel it's time to take the next step. This book did a great job of  
introducing me to the Smalltalk language and message passing with  
objects but I now find myself wondering how to build a real  
application using OOD techniques and the base objects in Squeak.

I have an electronics background and familiarity with UML. As well, I  
have acquired some basic programming knowledge over the years through  
a variety of intro courses. (Basic, C, Pascal , ASM [Z80] ).

I know that the majority of those active on this list are quite busy  
with work/family/Squeak (I fall into those categories too!) and may  
wonder why they would want to add mentoring to their To Do list.
Here is what I can offer the Squeak community in return for having a  
mentor:
- Complete documentation of the construction of a project from start  
to finish from the perspective of a Squeak newbie
- The completed project will be added to Squeak Source / Squeak Map  
for others to use
- I will become a Squeak Community Mentor once my first project is  
complete
- I will continue to write and document new projects for the Squeak  
Community

Why would I ask for a mentor if I'm already on the dev-list?
A mailing list works great when there is only a small amount of  
information to pass on at a time (say... less than one page).
If I were to use the dev-list to learn everything I need to learn to  
make my project, I would literally flood the list and annoy everyone.  
What I am hoping for is a combination of dev-list emails, one-to-one  
iChat (I use OS X) discussions and guidance for suggested readings  
(incremental readings rather than 'read this 800 page book and call  
me in the morning').

I feel that a mentorship program would be an excellent way to grow a  
strong competent Squeak user community. I also see this as a way to  
empower more Squeak users to take command of the many projects in  
Squeak Source, improving them and bringing them up to current release  
standards. This could have the effect of off loading the core Squeak  
developers to do what they do best, develop Squeak.

Thoughts?
Offers?

Jason Hogue